Fedex Awarded Mbnqa

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987 as a way to recognize companies for their superior quality management systems (Summers, 2009, p. 547). The six main areas encompassed by the award are Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer Focus, Workforce Focus, Operations Focus and Results. Six awards can be given annually to two qualified companies in each of the three different categories: manufacturing, service and small business ("Criteria", 2011). Companies who receive this award are considered role models for other companies to learn from their philosophies and imitate the strategies they implemented to achieve their success. Federal Express was one of the companies to receive the young Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990 ("MBNQA", 2010). They were the first company to receive the award in the category of service and one of only four Fortune 500 companies to receive the award to date.

Federal Express Corporation, better known as FedEx, is a leader in the shipping and logistics management industry. While they are best known for their fast overnight delivery and next day shipping, the company has become far more diverse. Since their founding, they have branched out into closely related business ventures adding divisions as they acquired companies such as Kinko's and Parcel Direct which are now known as FedEx Office and FedEx SmartPost respectively ("FedEx History", 1995-2011). These are just two of the many successful acquisitions marking their constant expansion within their industry since being recipients of the Malcolm Baldride National Quality Award.

The foundation of FedEx's corporate philosophy, "People-Service-Profit" ("MBNQA 1990", 2011), is customer focused as well as workforce focused. It is based around the fact that quality employees equal quality customer service. Employees deal directly with the customers and they are the direct link to the opportunity to gain return business. If the employees are taken care of then they will be more motivated to achieve the company's ultimate goal of 100% customer satisfaction. FedEx implemented a no layoff philosophy ("MBNQA 1990", 2011), unless under extreme circumstances, that keeps the employees comfortable and enthusiastic about their careers. They offer constant training to their employees who would like to learn more about the company and the constantly changing industry. Training keeps employees current on operations and gives them opportunities for upward mobility within the company. LEAP, Leadership Evaluation Awareness Process, is an assessment process offered through FedEx that allows employees to initiate their interest in being considered for management level positions. The first step in the process is a class for the interested employee to make a self assessment. Employees who feel a managerial role is compatible with their skills set and career ambitions can then continue the process of recommendations and evaluations. Once a candidate is LEAP sanctioned they can be considered for internal leadership promotions. (FedEx Attributes, 1995 -2011).

Most importantly FedEx includes their employees in decision making, encouraging them to get involved in the Quality Improvement Process. They want their employees to be able to create their own solutions to problems by forming Quality Action Teams (QAT). ("MBNQA 1990", 2011). Once developed these teams become a valuable asset to the company as a hands on problem solving resource. FedEx also provides other systems that give employees the opportunity to help management make improvements within the company. Survey Feedback Actions (SFA) and the Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure (GFTP) are a few of the processes they have in place that allow employees to be able to express any concerns they have to management and be assured they will get a quick response to the issues at hand. FedEx linked the annual SFA survey directly to their managerial bonuses keeping management more accountable for their role in addressing the concerns of their employees. ("MBNQA 1990", 2011). The positive impact of these internal processes promotes internal as well as external growth for the company.

FedEx understands the reason they have a successful business is due to their ability to provide a superior service to their customers establishing their customers as the most important element in the business plan. Although keeping up with the constant changes in technology can be a daunting task, it is expected of companies to pursue and implement those technologies as they relate to their industry in order to better serve their customers needs. FedEx has taken the initiative to improve their customer service through implementation of new expertise and technology. One example is how soon they made it possible for customers to conveniently process

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